Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Severe Dehydration
I know some of you out there won’t believe it when you hear it, but “severe dehydration” is what I was diagnosed with today before being put on an IV drip for two hours in Narao’s hospital.
This morning I woke up with some stomach pain, but sometimes this happens and it always goes away once I get up and moving. Yesterday I had dinner in Aokata with Satomi and her old student, Rena, who is now in college. We ate at 5:30 or something and I usually eat dinner between 8-10 p.m. after all my workouts and activities. I assumed I was just hungry and had my usual large bowl of cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries, before heading off to my favorite day of the week at Wakamatsu Junior High.
Well, I didn’t get better and after second period I just had to go home. I was so un-genki in class and, even though I LOVE these classes, I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt so bad, but when I got home and got into my pajamas and bed, I was able to feel miserable. I slept a little and woke up a little, but could never get out of bed. I talked to Satomi a little bit on the phone because my supervisor is in Nagasaki on a business trip and she was feeling fine after the meal so we ruled out food poisoning. My only symptom was this terrible stomach ache! Satomi asked around at school and apparently Nonaka-sensei’s son had the same problem a couple days ago and it was the flu. So I was told to rest and eat well; I probably would take a couple days to get better.
I couldn’t move though so I didn’t get up to make myself lunch and at 3 p.m. I couldn’t take it anymore. I went upstairs to Naoko’s apartment (my supervisor’s wife) and asked if she had medicine or a suggestion. She took me to the hospital in Narao and I got signed in, an x-ray, a culture, and then the diagnosis: dehydration. I drink so much water I don’t see how this is possible, but I guess recently I haven’t been drinking as much as usual. Waiting was so awful though. I just had to sit forever and it wasn’t comfortable.
Oh! When I did go see the doctor he had this slip of paper waiting for me and it said “Blah, blah, blah… possible you are a pregnant woman.” I freaked for a second until I saw, “IS it possible you are…?” Phew. And it’s certainly NOT possible that I am pregnant, but the fact that I just had an X-ray of my stomach taken and this unexplainable sickness, it made me jump out of my skin for a second or two. I don’t want to hear a doctor unexpectedly using the phrase “possible you are a pregnant woman” with me for a long, long time.
I was really hungry, but I was told I had to do two hours on the IV before eating anything because my body would reject everything until I got fluids. I got poked with the needle three times (they missed twice) so I have gauze taped all over my hands and arms, BUT I am feeling better so I don’t care. I agonized for a while in the bed and then finally fell asleep for my last hour. I started to get a fever too, but it went down eventually. Naoko went home and made me her special onigiri (rice triangles with sesame seeds) and came back just as I was waking up. It was so nice to eat! When I got home, my downstairs neighbor, Hirano-san, brought me a bowl of udon, vegetables, chicken and tofu. I feel so much better. My stomach is sore, but at least it's not still aching.
Now, I am just lying in bed chatting with my mom and contemplating sleep. I feel like I haven’t really been awake since yesterday. This morning seems like a painful dream. Tomorrow I go to the elementary school for my second visit so I HAVE to be genki again. I can’t miss that! I’ve got plenty of medications to take over the next 5 days. A total of 11 pills/packets each day! Japanese medicine is so weak though I’m not too concerned about it.
To sleep I go,
Sierra
A picture of Red, my Honda Accord, in Detroit, Michigan. My mom now uses her. Geez, I miss that reliable car!! Actually, Kuro kuma-kun hasn't given me any problems since the incident on Friday. I just start him up five minutes before I leave for school and he's warm and ready to go.
This morning I woke up with some stomach pain, but sometimes this happens and it always goes away once I get up and moving. Yesterday I had dinner in Aokata with Satomi and her old student, Rena, who is now in college. We ate at 5:30 or something and I usually eat dinner between 8-10 p.m. after all my workouts and activities. I assumed I was just hungry and had my usual large bowl of cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries, before heading off to my favorite day of the week at Wakamatsu Junior High.
Well, I didn’t get better and after second period I just had to go home. I was so un-genki in class and, even though I LOVE these classes, I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt so bad, but when I got home and got into my pajamas and bed, I was able to feel miserable. I slept a little and woke up a little, but could never get out of bed. I talked to Satomi a little bit on the phone because my supervisor is in Nagasaki on a business trip and she was feeling fine after the meal so we ruled out food poisoning. My only symptom was this terrible stomach ache! Satomi asked around at school and apparently Nonaka-sensei’s son had the same problem a couple days ago and it was the flu. So I was told to rest and eat well; I probably would take a couple days to get better.
I couldn’t move though so I didn’t get up to make myself lunch and at 3 p.m. I couldn’t take it anymore. I went upstairs to Naoko’s apartment (my supervisor’s wife) and asked if she had medicine or a suggestion. She took me to the hospital in Narao and I got signed in, an x-ray, a culture, and then the diagnosis: dehydration. I drink so much water I don’t see how this is possible, but I guess recently I haven’t been drinking as much as usual. Waiting was so awful though. I just had to sit forever and it wasn’t comfortable.
Oh! When I did go see the doctor he had this slip of paper waiting for me and it said “Blah, blah, blah… possible you are a pregnant woman.” I freaked for a second until I saw, “IS it possible you are…?” Phew. And it’s certainly NOT possible that I am pregnant, but the fact that I just had an X-ray of my stomach taken and this unexplainable sickness, it made me jump out of my skin for a second or two. I don’t want to hear a doctor unexpectedly using the phrase “possible you are a pregnant woman” with me for a long, long time.
I was really hungry, but I was told I had to do two hours on the IV before eating anything because my body would reject everything until I got fluids. I got poked with the needle three times (they missed twice) so I have gauze taped all over my hands and arms, BUT I am feeling better so I don’t care. I agonized for a while in the bed and then finally fell asleep for my last hour. I started to get a fever too, but it went down eventually. Naoko went home and made me her special onigiri (rice triangles with sesame seeds) and came back just as I was waking up. It was so nice to eat! When I got home, my downstairs neighbor, Hirano-san, brought me a bowl of udon, vegetables, chicken and tofu. I feel so much better. My stomach is sore, but at least it's not still aching.
Now, I am just lying in bed chatting with my mom and contemplating sleep. I feel like I haven’t really been awake since yesterday. This morning seems like a painful dream. Tomorrow I go to the elementary school for my second visit so I HAVE to be genki again. I can’t miss that! I’ve got plenty of medications to take over the next 5 days. A total of 11 pills/packets each day! Japanese medicine is so weak though I’m not too concerned about it.
To sleep I go,
Sierra
A picture of Red, my Honda Accord, in Detroit, Michigan. My mom now uses her. Geez, I miss that reliable car!! Actually, Kuro kuma-kun hasn't given me any problems since the incident on Friday. I just start him up five minutes before I leave for school and he's warm and ready to go.
A picture of my new backpack, which my mom will be using until I want it. I got a Jansport pack as a Christmas present in high school, then I didn't need such a big bag for college and my mom used it. Then the zipper broke, but Jansport has a life-time guarantee so we got a replacement! I only include this picture because my mom sent it to me about 5 seconds ago and I just heard I probably won’t get my camera back until April when my mom comes out to Japan!! So you'll continue getting boring pictures like these until then!
A picture of George’s family farm in Illinois. Settled in 1880s shortly after his grandfather’s emigration.
